Anti-gun California State Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) is being mocked by gun rights advocates after he made a number of inaccurate statements while promoting a bill that would require individuals who manufacturer homemade firearms to undergo background checks.
“This is a ghost gun,” de Leon begins, holding an unloaded rifle in his hands. “This right here has the ability with a .30-caliber clip to disperse with 30 bullets within half a second. Thirty magazine clip in half a second.”
State Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, displays a homemade fully automatic rifle, confiscated by the Department of Justice, as he discuss his proposed legislation dealing with “ghost guns,” at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. Under de Leon’s measure, SB808 would allow the manufacture or assembly of homemade weapons, known as “ghost guns,”, but require the makers to first apply to the state Department of Justice for a serial number that would be given only after the applicants undergo a background check. De Leon plans to amend the bill to also require that guns contain permanent pieces of metal that could be detected by X-ray machines and metal detectors.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
A “ghost gun” generally refers to a firearm that doesn’t have a serial number or a homemade gun, like one created using a 3D printer.
For those not familiar with firearms or gun-related terminology, there are a number of issues with de Leon’s argument.
Firstly, there is no such thing as a “30-caliber clip” in the context of which he is speaking. He clearly is referring to a 30-round magazine. An ammunition magazine is different than a “clip,” but the two are often confused by those not familiar with guns. And though it’s obvious, there is also no such thing as a “30 magazine clip.”
Secondly, caliber refers the measurement of the width of a bullet or internal diameter of a gun barrel, not magazine capacity.
According to the Associated Press, the rifle on display in the video is indeed a homemade fully automatic rifle. Still, a rate of fire of 60 rounds per second — or 3,600 rounds per minute — is unlikely with a “homemade” rifle. Fully automatic weapons are also essentially banned already, even if they are homemade. The average rate of fire for a semi-automatic rifle is roughly 120 rounds per minute, depending on the shooter and reload time.
Now, it’s entirely possible that de Leon got nervous during his public address and mixed up his words and numbers. But it’s also possible that he needs to brush up on his gun knowledge.
YouTube user David West put together a video pointing out the flaws in de Leon’s remarks. The video, featured below, already has nearly 500,000 views.
Watch the California lawmaker’s comments in full here:
(H/T: Weasel Zippers)
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